Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participated in a two-hour interview on Monday with billionaire Elon Musk on Musk’s social media platform, X. The event faced a delay of over 40 minutes due to technical issues, which Musk attributed to a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack—though this claim couldn’t be verified.
Trump attempted to spin the technical difficulties into a positive, praising Musk for attracting a large audience. At one point, a counter on X indicated that as many as 1.3 million people were listening during the conversation. The technical problems were reminiscent of a similar incident in May 2023 when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faced glitches on X during the launch of his Republican presidential campaign.
At that time, Trump had mocked DeSantis on his own platform, Truth Social, boasting about the superiority of his own platform. Before Monday’s interview, Musk had mentioned plans to conduct system scaling tests, but X did not provide any details or evidence regarding the alleged cyberattack.
Throughout the interview, Trump and Musk exchanged compliments. Musk, the CEO of Tesla, praised Trump for his bravery during a recent assassination attempt, while Trump commended Musk for his firm stance on firing employees demanding better conditions. Trump called Musk the “greatest cutter” for his approach to handling strikes and labor issues. Musk, who has shifted his political support from Democratic President Joe Biden to Trump, expressed his belief that Trump is the right choice for the country’s future.
The interview allowed Trump to voice his usual mix of grievances, personal attacks, and questionable claims. Musk mostly let Trump steer the conversation without challenging his statements, including false claims about immigration and inflation. Studies indicate that immigrants, including those in the U.S. illegally, do not commit crimes at higher rates than native-born Americans.
The interview was part of Trump’s effort to maintain attention as he faces competition from Vice President Kamala Harris, whose late entry into the presidential race has energized the Democratic Party. Harris has garnered significant media coverage with her energetic rallies and is expected to gain further momentum at the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
Following the interview, Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello criticized Trump, stating that his campaign caters to wealthy individuals like Musk while neglecting the middle class. Some listeners on X noticed that Trump’s speech sounded as if he had a lisp, but his campaign did not comment on this.
During the interview, Trump insulted Harris, calling her “third rate,” “incompetent,” and “a radical left lunatic,” but also remarked on her appearance, comparing her to his wife, Melania Trump, in a compliment about her photo on the cover of Time magazine. Trump expressed frustration over Harris replacing Biden on the Democratic ticket, falsely labeling it a “coup.”
Although Trump had been leading Biden in many battleground state polls, he is now trailing Harris in some of the same states. Despite his previous criticism of electric vehicles, Trump has softened his stance since Musk’s endorsement, calling Tesla’s cars “incredible” during the interview. He also praised authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un as being at the “top of their game.”
Trump returned to X for the first time in a year with a series of posts, reviving his account that had been a central communication tool during his presidency and prior campaigns. His account was reinstated by Musk after being suspended following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol due to concerns about incitement to violence. Although Trump frequently posts on his platform, Truth Social, his audience there is much smaller compared to X. Musk, who has supported Trump’s claims about voter fraud and immigration, has also established a super PAC to support Trump’s campaign, which is now under investigation in Michigan for potential legal violations regarding voter information gathering.
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